It's a summer enrichment program on *competitive math*, the stuff I used to dominate some 20+ years ago.

I'm pretty excited, as is my wife who's presently figuring out how many more weekly hours of work I'd need for her to be able to quit her inhumane Wall Street job!

And let me tell you....these kids are pretty darn smart. At an open house for this *school* yesterday I already met a few who had 800s on their math SATs. They were 13-14 years old.

I also have a potential opportunity brewing at another place nearby, one closer to Queens, and a WHOLE LOT MORE ASIAN KIDS.

I'm extremely confident that I can quickly build up a reputation as THE go-to math instructor around here. And with that would come steep *rate increases* and even the possibility to open up my own shop.

Furthermore, I will be creating my own math curricula for all this teaching that I will then re-package and sell as an info-product via HomeschoolDad. Passive income!

Career re-invention is never easy and definitely takes some time. But this was my plan all along, to set up a tutoring business here in the ultra-wealthy NYC suburbs. Although originally I thought and said that it would be a hedge against not being able to make money with my website. Now it seems they can complement each other nicely.

New York City may be a tough place to live....but it's also a fount of opportunity for hard-working, competent Earthlings.

Friday, May 18, 2012

I voted AGAINST raising the town's school budget a mere *1.7%* or whatever it was sold as.

I figured that the existing $83 million allocation was plenty of money ($26,000 per student!!!)....and they didn't REALLY NEED $85 million, annually!

It's the same $hit in all these wealthy towns.

They run around telling all these gullible parents that their kids will "fall behind" if taxes aren't raised to pay for football, gifted programs, driver's ed, college guidance departments(!), special education, for low student:teacher ratios, etc.

But really it's just to keep paying lavish pensions...

What kills me is that even people who fancy themselves smart/educated are so easily manipulated. It's only the wise 'old coots' who show up and vote against these annual tax hikes, and only some of them. The really wealthy ones here don't even care to vote.

I can get a little confrontational about this stuff, but what's the point, really?

I usually just mock these Morons by yelling at them that *education has NOTHING to do with money* and that they are fools for thinking so.

I heard a great quote the other day, "Education is a process, not an institution."

It's hard to believe that these bankrupt, over-valued stocks have managed to rally for 4 EFFIN' YEARS...

Whatever.

It's going to the toilet where it belongs, price-wise.

How do I know?

Because I'm no longer short, not beyond a negligible position anyway. And I have no stomach for more puts on the banks and REITs.

I myself have moved on to my tutoring and educational website endeavor. In fact I'm all in on them these days and that explains the diminished blog output.

Let me just tell y'all, that the New York economy has lost steam and is about to nosedive. All it will take is another 1,000 points off the Dow....even if it doesn't come for several more months.

And I'm not exagerrating when I say that Wall Street has never been booming like this. It's been a four year skim-fest for stock, commodity, and bond *asset managers*. Almost everyone I know in finance is still cleaning up. So we have a long, long way to fall yet. All good things do come to an end...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Now I have to admit I HAD NO IDEA who this woman is until the other day. And even up to this morning I had mistakenly thought she was an Obama appointee or something rather than a Massachusetts (my birthplace!) candidate for Senate.

Her argument can be made, of course, ad infinitum. Agitators like can her always demand that *the rich* continue to pay more in taxes because they allegedly made their money on the back of government services....right down to the point where they have to hand-over EVERY SINGLE, RAPIDLY-DEPRECIATING DOLLAR THEY EARN.

Some dude posted a very insightful response to her Commi sophistry - here.

One of his key points is that there is a large distinction between giving someone a benefit that they ask for....and forcing someone to accept benefits and then labeling them *perpetually indebted*.

Now go back to whatever productive endeavor you were engaged in and forget all about this contemporary irrelevance.

For years I've been wondering how much money - even though I'm sure it's a pittance! - Google Ads would bring in on this blog.

So I just enabled them in the sidebar and at the end of what seems like only the first post.

I think I'll let it run for 2-3 months just to see what happens.

Ideally, there'd be a gadget/widget that would only display ads to my *search engine traffic*. This way my most loyal fans wouldn't have to look at hideous ads. Sort of like a municipality taxing tourists...

Personally, I can't stand looking at ads. Please bear with me and accept my apologies. All my regulars should be following via Google Reader anyway...

Monday, May 14, 2012

My mother recently told me that she and my father were going to get iPhones!

Son - Why? Are you going to get email and the internet on them?

BiologicalMother - No.

Son - Well then why are you going to get an iPhone? That's what they are for. Almost useless otherwise.

Okay, so then this weekend I saw them again AND they were equipped with iPhones.

Son - Did you get the internet on Dad's phone?

(Dad barely uses email!)

BiologicalMother - No.

BiologicalMother - I mean yes.

Son - You know it's 30 bucks a month, right?

BiologicalMother - The second phone is *included*, it's a family plan.

Son- No it's not. You have Verizon, right?

BiologicalMother - Yeah.

Son - It's $30 per month, per phone for data.

BiologicalMother - My sister said it was all included.

Son - Yeah, for $30 a month, per phone, it's INCLUDED. Is your sister getting a sales commission?

BiologicalMother - (silence)

Son - How much is your bill going to be?

BiologicalMother - $123 (?)

Son - There it is, $60 for two data lines....and $60 for phone calls. THAT'S YOUR FAMILY PLAN.

Son - You're paying $360 this year for Dad to have email and internet access...

BiologicalMother - Well if he doesn't use it, we'll just cancel it.

Son - NO. You can't. You signed a two year contract. You are committed to paying $720 for him to have functions on his phone THAT HE WILL NEVER USE.

The best is how my father whispered to me, multiple times that he didn't understand just about anything on the phone....as if I had no idea!

To mess with him, right now I'm going to text him! This works on 75% of fossils...

iPhones....what a great idea for 'old coots'!

I wonder who has their's stolen or lost first, and has to shell out for a new *unsubsidized* smartphone, Mom or Dad?

There were so many more angles to this that I didn't convey.

For example, my mother thought that if she wanted a data plan....that my father had to have one too. That's wrong of course. My wife has a clamshell phone and I have a Droid with data through Verizon.

Also, my mother said she wanted my father to have some mobile access to his email mind you this is all *rationalization*. So I informed her that she could set up his account on her phone too and it would be fine because they are together most of the time. (I myself have 4 Gmail accounts set up on my phone - my two and each of my kids' accounts.)

But the gist, to go back to the beginning, was that they decided to get iPhones not knowing really that such an acquisition implied a lot more money for something they didn't really need. So instead of scrapping the iPhone idea they bought them AND at least one extra data plan.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Then one day I read in a science periodical that *getting up early all week and sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday* could cause headaches. Aha!

But I could never really avoid the cause.

I got so much school work - to the point where I was pulling 1-2 all-nighters per week - that on Friday night I could barely stay awake until 9:30pm.

Then of course I'd sleep in a little, which pushed me back late on Saturday night....and I'd sleep until 11am on Sunday, then stay up all night doing homework. And so on...

The other day some article was going around on the web calling this *social jet lag*. Check it out - here.

Notably, they link irregular sleep patterns to obesity. I don't want to argue that point, but would like to point out that wage slaves trapped in offices and burdened with tedious, un-stimulating work are also very prone to eating unhealthy food and a lack of exercise.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

My son joined a homeschool archery league a couple months ago. With his fees one parent was entitled to a lesson and shooting session. So today I was up...

Yeah, and it was my FIRST TIME ever shooting a bow and arrow!

It's just like golf: take a deep breath, sight the target, use big muscles, posture(!), smooth release, have a repeatable ritual, etc.

Archery is definitely a *cool* hobby. If I wasn't so overloaded right now I'd be tempted to start getting into it.

We go to an indoor range near the middle of *The Island*. What an operation they got there! Who knew that archery was a money-maker. It's usually $15 to *shoot all day*. But there are hordes of enthusiasts that spend a ton of time and $$$ there. Why? Well, apparently it's illegal to shoot a bow and arrow in your backyard - at least in New York.

There's probably a little boom in the archery biz right now on account of The Hunger Games too.

(See none of y'all can do math....the shooting distance was an impressive 4,572mm.)

Monday, May 07, 2012

While it wasn't that bad....I've been busy cleaning up a watery mess in the basement. Note that all our computers are down there! This is going to end up costing me a few days of productivity and chi though...

Also, I mentioned that I was experimenting with outsourcing some math-workbook creation and whatnot to Asia for $3 an hour....well, it hasn't been going that great either.

I've pretty much spent more time and energy trying to get it done cheaply than it would have taken to freakin' do myself!

Then I fired some dude today and at the last minute he *logged hours* to stiff me with a bill!

There's definitely an art/science to outsourcing online....while I haven't quite figured it out yet, I've at least learned some valuable lessons. I'll tell the stories in subsequent posts.

Other developments include another tee time later this week at Bethpage Black!

And the Asians are after me again. Another *enrichment academy* on Long Island is trying to hire me to teach competitive math (at their summer school). The other place....well, they promised me all sorts of work but never delivered. (I think they had a customer problem, but I could be wrong, I may have just been too expensive for them.)

BTW....y'all might notice that my blog looks a little different. That was an accident! I was trying to show my SIL how to set up a blog and configure it....anyways, I modified my template and couldn't restore!

Sunday, May 06, 2012

While it wasn't said by Buffett directly....he's guilty by association AND for his own transgressions.

Civilized people? I guess he means that since they have direct access to the printing press they don't need to buy firearms and canned food for the apocalypse like the rest of the uncivilized world has to!

If you read the article you'll hear Buffett's apparatchik admit that their fund is *opportunistic*.

That's just code meaning they exploit dumb, corrupt politicians for sweetheart bank and insurance deals - deals that come on the backs of taxpayers.

Taxpayers? Oh, yeah, those are the people Buffett thinks should have MORE MONEY confiscated from their wages...